Miami 105 – Dallas 94. The Dallas Mavericks may have raised their championship banner but it was the Miami Heat who dominated in this game as they looked to erase their memories of last year’s Finals debacle. Miami raced off to a large lead using a spread offense. After all coach Erik Spoelstra recently had an epiphany when he visited the sidelines of an Oregon Ducks football game. The key to Miami’s success will be in outrunning and outgunning their opponents. Miami’s play calling this year will be explosive and unpredictable. Today’s game was a prime opportunity to showcase this philosophy. Miami looked to be the faster team and the more efficient team today. They used more players off the bench then in past games. Highlights included rookie point-guard Norris Cole getting much of the playing time at the point. Also all Heat players seemed to be going after missed shots at the hoop with Wade, James, Haslem and even Juwon Howard scoring on second chances. Lets not forget that this is still however the first game of the season and Dallas has some adjusting to do as they have new acquisitions to work into their lineup.
Notables: Miami continues struggling to hold onto large leads. They led by as many as 35 points in this game but had poor shot selection down the stretch and allowed Dallas to cut down the lead and let the crowd back into the game. LeBron James looked to set the tone by playing his game. He finished the game with an impeccable stat line – 37 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assist, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Dwyane Wade assisted with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Chris Bosh had a very quiet game with only 4 points and 7 rebounds as Udonis Haslem carried most of the load at Power Forward finishing with 9 points and 14 rebounds. Norris Cole showed promise as he increased the pace at which Miami played. His ball handling is superior to Mario Chalmers but he still has some learning to do and needs to refine his decision making. He finished with 7 points but without any assists. Lamar Odom was ejected from the game.
